Pipe cutting machine



April 10, 1934. s Q'TWIGG HAL 1,954,549

PIPE CUTTING MACHINE Filed March 21 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l N} 2 ail/y a INVENTORS S/VEfi/WWV C? 7744 ATTORNEYS 1i, R34 5. c. TWIGG El AL 1,954,549

PIPE CUTTING MACHINE Filed March 21, 1932. 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS April 10, 1934. s. c. TWIGG' El AL 1,954,549

7 PIPE CUTTING MACHINE Filed March 21,1932 s Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS SHEEMHN C. 7"N/ g ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 41934 l 'Ihe invention relates machines 1 for cutting t (Fig, 3.. is anend elevation.

'pipes-ofvarying sizes in planes at any predetermined angle .to the longitudinal axes of the pipesto facilitate the formation of elbows, by" welding or otherwise connecting the beveled ends of the v means actuated by-the rotating pipe-to cause the cutting flame to follow a predetermined zone of The invention is illustrated ,in the accompanying drawings in which;- 1 p Y l n 1 is a planview of the machine. 7 .v Fig. 2 isa side elevation partly in section.

" f Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective Fig. 1.

ie o cut h g 1 Fig. 5 is an enlarged section. on line the means for indicatingthe angle of the Fig fiis a detailof the tion. u H ,is an enlarged section on line,7.-7 of Fig.1.} m

Referring tc the drawings, 1 indicatesasuitablebase upon which-the entire'mechanism is mounted and is -of a character to admit of the apparatus being readily-transported by hand, or mounted upon a truck, so that it may belocated conveniently to the work.

Supported on pivots 3 'mounted on one side and at opposite ends of the base 1 are standards 2 connected by a cross piece. 4, said parts constituting a tilting frame adapted to be swung into and out of perpendicular relation with respect to thebase, as indicated in full and dotted lines in Fig. 3. Mounted for perpendicular adjustment on the standards 2 are bracket-like'supports, each comprisinga normally horizontal bar 5 provided with a clamping yoke 6 engaging one of the standards and secured in adjusted position by bolt and nut 7, each rod being braced by a strut 8 connected to acollar 10, slidable on the standard and connected to the correspondingyoke 6 by brace 9,-the two collars 10 being connected by cross brace 10'; theparts so assembled forming a rigid frame adjustable to different heights above the base and constituting a firm support for the cutting torch and the operating and controlling mechanism associated therewith.

Adjustable longitudinally of each bar 5 is a slotted yoke crank mogenerally U-shaped frame 11, the upright mem- TBS,

fixed thereto.

I v PIP-E CUTTING r. Sherman'C. Twigg and George D. Major, Cum- I berland, Md., assignors of one-tenth to William E, Bowman, Alexandriay-va. I T Application March 21, 1932f, Serial No. 600,276. 7 5Claims. (01.266-23) bers of which are provided With-holes or bores engaged bythebar, one member being slotted and fitted with a wingbolt 11' by means of which the frameis clamped in' adjusted position to the bar. Welded to, upright membersof the frames 1'1, 11 are parallel tracks 12, 12 extending beyond the base 1 atone end of the machine, and connected at their extended ends by cross bar 13;

Welded to the frames 11, 11 are parallel bars 15, 15, between the mid sections of which is secured a cross bar 16 carrying a center bearing stud 17 partly countersunk in the cross bar and secured in position by set screw 18, said stud forming thesupport for anantifriction bearing 19, which, in turn, forms the pivotal support for a friction disk 20.

Mounted below the friction disk 20, with one end hinged to'a bracket 23 secured to cross bar 16 and its other end engaging a vertically elongated bearing slot 22 in one of the U-frames Ilis a shaft 21, upon which is slidably and rotatably mounted a friction wheel 24adapted to be engaged with the undervface of the friction disk 20, when the outer endof shaft 21 is lifted by the engagement of the wheel 24 with the pipe to be so 27 engaging laterally projecting pins on nut 28 mounted on screw shaft 29 journaled for rotation only in bracket 30 secured to cross bar 16 and in a bearing in yoke 11, the outboard end of the screw shaft having an operating head 29 The bar 25 is provided with scale markings, preferably in inches, and cooperating with thesoale is an index finger or pointer 32 secured to cross bar 16 in alignment with the center of friction disk 20. v

Fixed diametrically to the upper face of friction disk 20 is a cross bar 30' on which is slidably mounted aopin 35 adapted to be clamped in adjusted position to the rod by eye-bolt 32 and wing nut 34, as partieularly shown in Fig. 6. Pin 35 engages an'elongated slot in a cross yoke 40 fixed to the end of a carriage mounted on rails 12, 12. Disk 20, adjustable pin 35 and yoke 40, therefore, constitute a slotted yoke crank motion for converting the rotary motion of the disk into reciprocatory motion of the yoke 40 and the carriage to which it is connected, the extent of the reciprocation of the carriage being regulated by the distance of the pin 35 from thecenter of the disk 20.

"The carriage aforesaid comprises parallel bars- 45, 45 pivoted at 4'7 to the side bars 41 of the carriage, the inner ends of said levers 45 being connected by a helical spring 48. This arrangement of the various traction wheels insures an effective mounting for the carriage on the rails 12, permitting freemovement of the carriage without tendency to bind or jam between the rails.

Fixed to one rail 12 is a sleeve 51 in which is adjustably mounted a rod which is clamped,.

in its adjusted position, to the sleeve by set screws 52, said rod having scale markingsthereon to indicate the adjustment of the machine to the diameter of the pipe, expressed in inches. I The lower end of the rod 50 is bent at a right angle and pivoted thereto is a rod 53, which slides-freely in a sleeve 54 fixed to a pintle 55 journaled in the lower end 41 of adjacent side member 41 of the-carriage, and fixed to the end of pintle 55 is a crank arm 56, to the outer end of which is fixed one end of a cross bar57, the other end of which is secured to a crankarm 58 pivoted at its lower end to a pin 59' carried by the end 41' of the other side member 41 of the carriage, the pintle 55 and pin 59' being in axial alignment. The end of the latter side member 41 is formed as a sector-shaped frame 59 having a scale 60 thereon graduated in degrees, with which scale the upper end of crank arm 58cooperates to indicate the angular inclination of the cut to be made in the pipe with reference to the longitudinal axis of the pipe.

Fixed to the cross bar 5'7 is a nozzle or'head 61 for applying the cutting flame to the pipe. As conventionally illustrated, the nozzle or blow torch 61 is of the type employing an admixture of oxygen and acetylene as the heating agent and a jet of oxygen as the cutting agent. As this type of blow torch is well known, a more detailed description of the same is not necessary. The supply of oxygen and acetylene to the three nipples 62 of the torch or head 61 is controlled by any suitable valve mechanism usually employed for this purpose, but, as a matter of convenience, the control valves are mounted on the cross brace 4 connecting the upper ends of the standards 2, the said cross brace being provided with two transverse bores into which are tapped the the bores being .provided with nipples 63, which are connected by flexible tubing to the corre-- sponding nipples 62 inthe head 61. Control of the cutting jet of oxygen is effected by means of a separate valve diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. '7, which controls a by-pass 68 from-the main oxygen valve 64 to the nipple 63, which isconnected to the corresponding nipple 62 on the head 61, the valve comprising a spring seated valve disk 6'7, valve stem 66 projecting above the bar 4 and operated by a pivoted lever'65'.

The pipe to be cut is mounted directly on the base and is rotated on its longitudinal axis during the cutting operation. The mounting for'the pipe comprises two or more pairs of rollers '75, '76 mounted on'longitudinalshafts 73, '74, journaled in open bearings, such as '71, '72, formed n slidable-on the rod 30', moves into position in verthe flanged projections '70 on the upper face of the base. As illustrated, there are two pairs of rollers, which are sufficient to support the pipe during the cutting operation, the rollers '76 being fixed to shaft '74, which latter is journaled in the open bearings '72 at opposite ends of the machine. The two rollers '75 are mounted o shaft '73, which is selectively journaled in any of the coordinate open bearings '71, so that the two sets of rollers may be adjusted relatively toward and from each other to accommodatepipes of different diameters.

, The pipe is positively rotated by frictional engagement with the set of rollers '76, which, in turn, is driven by any appropriate gear mechanism, which latter may be operated either manually or by a motor. For machines adapted to cut pipes of smaller sizes, up to-ten inches-in diameter, the power necessary to operate the machine, which is preferably manual, comprises a shaft having anoperating crank on its outer end, said shaft being journaled in bearings carried by the base and having mounted thereon a gear 81, which meshes with a similar gear 82 fixed to shaft 83, which carries a worm 84 meshing with worm gear 85 on a short transverse shaft, which carries a pinion 86 meshing with gear 87 fast to shaft '74.

The operation of the machine, as described, is as follows:

The machine isflrst set to accommodate the particular size or diameter of the pipe to be cut.-, Shaft '73 is adjusted to or from shaft '74- to properly space the sets of rollers '75, '76 to afford a firm support for the pipe. Friction wheel 24 is ad justed on its supporting shaft 21 a distance from the center of disk 20 equal to half the diameter of the pipe, as indicatedby the scale on the bar 25, this adjustment being effected by operating the feed screw 29. The supporting brackets are.-

then adjusted perpendicularly on the standards 2 and clamped in their adjusted position by the wing-nuts '7, and the frame, comprising the parallel tracks 12, 12 and their connections with the horizontal rods.5, 5 of the brackets, is adjusted and clamped in position on said rods, so that the 0 nozzle axis of the torch 61 will be invertical alignment with the longitudinal axis of the pipe, the elevation of the carriage and, therefore, of the nozzle being determined by the scale markings on the rod 50. Crank pin 35 is released from its locked relation on the cross bar 30 by backing off the wing-nut 34, so that the crank pin may slide freely on said bar. Rod 53 is then swung to perpendicular position, its pivotal point being in horizontal alignment with the center of the pipe. This swinging movement of the rod or lever 53' causes a-partial rotation of the crank arms 56 and 58, thereby moving the head of the torch, which is fast to cross bar 57, to bring the nozzle of the torch to perpendicular position with respect to the longitudinal axis of the pipe, which position will be indicated by the pointed end of crank arm. 58 standing opposite the zero marking on the scale 60. This movement of the lever 53 will also cause the carriage, including the side bars 41, 41 and the slotted link 40, tomove rearwardly,'thereby rotating the friction disk 20 until the cross bar 30 is at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the pipe and the crank pin 35, which is freely tical alignment with the center ofthe disk 20. Lever 53 is then swung on its pivot to bring the index end of crank arm 58 to the marking on the scale 60 to indicate the angle-of cut to be made i thepipe with respect to the longitudinal axis of the latter. This will cause the nozzle of the torch to assume the position with its longitudinal axis parallel with the crank arm 58. The swinging movement of the lever 53 causes the frame and the slotted link 40 to move in the same direction, therebycausing the crank pin 35 ,to slide on the cross bar 30 and effect a partial rotation of the disk 20 until the cross bar 30 assumes an angular position with respect-to the longitudinal axis of the pipe equal to the angle of the ,cut to be made.

-The crank pin 35 is then clamped to the cross bar 30'. In order to place the pipe in position to be cut, the standards 2 and the mechanism carried thereby are swung to the dotted position indicated in Fig. 3. When the pipe has been properly positioned on the rollers 75 and 76, the standards 2 are swung back to perpendicular position and the friction wheel 24, engaging the highest point of the pipe, will be moved into engagement with the" under face of friction disk 20, this movement of the'friction -wheel being permitted by reason of the engagement of the end of its supporting shaft 21 with the elongated bearing 22. The supply of oxygen and acetylene is then turned on at the valves 64 and 65 and ignited to "direct a heating flame against the surface of the pipe at a point where the cut is to be initiated and, when this localized area of the-pipe has been heated to a suflicient degree, a supply of oxygen for the cutting jet is turned on by depressing the handle 65 of the valve controlling the by-pass from the main oxygen valve 64 and, at the same time, the hand crank is operated to rotate the pipe at the proper speed to effect a clean cut by the oxygen The rotation of the-pipe produces a coordinate rotation of the friction disk 20 through friction wheel 24 and this rotation of the friction disk causes the crank pin 35 to traverse the slot in the yoke 40 and thereby cause the carriage to reciprocate on the tracks 12, one complete rotation of the pipe effecting a complete rotation of the friction disk, which produces the complete oscillation of the cutter head 61 and the cutting jet in a plane including the longitudinal axis of the pipe. This swinging movement of the torch producesa clean circumferential cut through the walls of the pipe, so that all parts of the surface of the pipe end will be in a common plane and will make a flush contact with the cut face'of the mating pipe section, which would not be the case if the axis of the torch nozzle were maintained perpendicular to the axis of the pipe during the entire cutting operation.

What we claim is: 1. A pipe cutting machine, comprising means for supporting and rotating the pipe about its longitudinal axis, an adjustable cutter, and

means operated by and through the rotation of the pipe for reciprocating the cutter in a plane including the longitudinal axis of the pipe and oscillating the cutter insaid plane. through an are equal to the angle of inclination of the desired cut with reference to said longitudinal axis.

2. A machine for cutting pipe, comprising means for mounting and rotating the pipe, a cutter, and means actuated by the rotating pipe for simultaneously reciprocating and oscillating the cutter in a plane including the longitudinal axis of the pipe and through an angle equal to the angle of the cut relative to said axis.

3. A pipe cutting machine, comprising a base, parallel sets of rollers thereon to support the pipe to be cut, means for driving one set of rollers to rotate the pipe on its longitudinal axis, a frame supported above the base, a carriage slidable on said frame, a crank shaft journaled transversely of the carriage, a cutting torch fixed to'said crank shaft, a rock lever=pivoted to said frame and connected to said crank shaft to effect swinging movement of the torch coordinate with the reciprocation of the carriage, and a slotted yoke crank motion connected to the carriage and actuated by-frictional engagement with the rotating pipe for reciprocating the carriage.

4. A machine'as described'in claim 3, in which the slotted yoke crank motion comprisesa slotted yoke mounted transversely of the carriage, afriction disk carrying a crank pin engaging the.

yoke, and a friction wheel adapted to engage the pipe and the friction disk and rotating the latter coordinately by and with the pipe.

5. A pipe cutting machine, comprising a base, parallel sets of rollersthereon to support the pipe to be cut, means for driving one set of rollers to rotate the pipe on its longitudinal axis,

a frame supported for perpendicular and transverse adjustment relative to the base, a carriage slidable on said frame, a crank shaft journaled transversely of the carriage, a cutting torch fixed to said crank shaft, a rock lever pivoted to said frame and connected to said crank shaft to effect swinging movements of the torch coordinate with the reciprocation of the carriage, a slotted yoke mounted transversely of the carriage, a friction disk journaled on the frame and carrying an adjustable crank pin, a friction 'wheel slidably supported on said frame below. the friction disk and adapted to engage the pipe and the friction disk and rotating the latter coordinately by and with the pipe, and means for adjusting the friction wheel radially with reference to the disk.

SHERMAN. C. TWIGG.

GEORGE D. MAJOR. 

